This week has highlighted the ongoing scientific and political uncertainties in the aftermath of the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil spill. A new paper by a group of NSF funded scientists finds that hydrocarbon transfers from oil spills have different apportionments at depth than at the surface. Meanwhile, the public conversation about how penalty money should be used continues this week with the reporting on a Senate bill introduced by a bi-partisan group of 9 Gulf State Senators which would give 80% of the funds to the states and ecosystem restoration. These juxtaposed developments reinforce the need to continue to make progress on the difficult regulatory challenges posed by offshore drilling and oil spills, a subject which is the focus of one of my forthcoming articles.